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Before we can try to understand whether landscaping is more of an art or a science (or both), it would be well in order for us to give ourselves a brief introduction to it. Such an introduction would insure us from being guilty of running a discussion in which some cannot quite follow; on account of their not being conversant with the subject of the discussion. Landscaping, as it turns out, simply refers to the set of strategies that are employed in a bid to make the surroundings of the entities (which could be organizations, institutions and so on) look more presentable. When an organization decides to develop lush lawns on its head office’s grounds, that organization is said to be involved in a landscaping activity. Similarly, when an organization decides to plant some trees on its premises, it is said to be involved in landscaping. Often, landscaping involves planting things, though that is not all there is to it. Sometimes, where plants imply can’t grow, we may have things like careful arrangement of stone pebbles being undertaken to make the surroundings look more presentable. The bottom-line is that landscaping is all about making the landscape look more presentable; the landscape in this context being simply the ‘surroundings.’

So, is landscaping an art or a science?

Well, in order to establish whether landscaping is an art or a science, it will be important for us to have a working definition on what constitutes an art, and what constitutes a science. We won’t go into textbook definitions of the two. Rather, we will content ourselves with the vision of an art as any endeavor, or way of doing things that allows for creative input (and subsequent giving out of creative output).   Science, on the other hand, is all about precision: a system where given sets of inputs always yield given sets of outputs, and where there are precise ways of doing things. In chemistry, for instance, you know that when you mix chemical A with chemical B, you always get chemical C. There is no room for contention.

Now whether to view landscaping as an art or a science is quite a major challenge – but it ultimately depends on which landscaping approach we are looking at. Landscaping, as it is carried out nowadays has both artistic and scientific elements to it. There are, of course, some approaches to landscaping that have more science than artistry, just as there are some that are more about artistry than science. But there is hardly any approach to landscaping that can be said to be completely scientific (and bereft of artistry, seeing that landscaping is all about aesthetics). Similarly no approach to landscaping that can be said to be completely artistic and bereft of science.

Where landscaping involves the establishment of lawns, as is often the case, we see the science being employed in the growth of the vegetation that makes up the lawns. From the right land preparation techniques, to the selection of the right types of vegetation and their subsequent propagation, we see science going through and through. But if the resultant lawn is to be aesthetically appealing (which is really the point of developing it), a certain level of artistry is also necessary.

So in the final analysis, one is better off saying that landscaping is both an art and a science.

Introduction:  Polymer Morphology

Two different states or forms can be identified in which a polymer can display the mechanical or thermomechanical properties that can be associated with solids, viz., the form of a crystal or the form of a glass. It is not really the case that all polymers are able to crystallize. As a matter of fact, a high degree of molecular symmetry and microstructural regularity within the polymer chains are a prerequisite for crystallization to occur.  Even in those polymers, which do crystallize in any rate, the ultimate degree of crystallinity developed is mostly less than 100%.

Studies of physical form, arrangement and structure of the molecules or the molecular aggregates of a material system relates to what is known as its morphology.  Polymer morpho-logy covers the study of the arrangement of macromolecules over the crystalline, amorphous and the overlapping regions and the overall physical clustering of the molecular aggregates.

When cooled from, the molten states, different polymers exhibit different tendencies to crystallize at different rates depending on many factors including prevailing physical conditions, chemical nature of the repeat units and of the polymer as a whole, their molecular or segmental symmetry and structural regularity or irregularity, as referred to above.  Bulky pendent groups or chain branches of different lengths hinder molecular packing and hence crystallization.  The nature of the crystalline state of polymers is not simple and it should not be confused with the regular geometry of the crystals of low molecular weight compounds such as sodium chloride or benzoic acid.  There are polymers, which are by and large amorphous, and they have very poor tendency to get transformed into ordered or oriented structures on cooling to near or even below room temperature.  Natural or synthetic rubbers and glassy polymers such as polystyrene, acrylate and methacrylate polymers belong to this class.

In a crystalline polymer, a given polymer chain exists in or passes through several crystalline and amorphous zones.  The crystalline zones are made up of intermolecular and intramolecular alignment or orderly and hence closely packed arrangement of molecules or chain segments, and a lack of it results in the formation of amorphous zones.

Glass Transition and Melting Transition

On the basis of following the changes in a mechanical property parameter such as shear modulus with changes (rise) in the temperature of observation for polymer material systems, one can readily observe successively – (i) glass transition and  (ii) melting transition phenomena, more easily from a graphical plot , and may also have a measure of the glass transition temperature, Tg and the melting temperature,  Tm.

The glass transition and the melting transition may also be observed and ascertained from a plot of specific volume ( Vsp )  versus temperature.  Let us consider the various possibilities as a melt is cooled from the position A at a high temperature that corresponds to a relatively high Vsp value as well, fig. 1.  The path ABDG shows how the specific volume drops down as a low molecular weight compound is frozen.  As the melting temperature Tm is reached at the point B, a sharp discontinuity in Vsp is observed (BD).  The slopes AB and DG give measures of coefficients of thermal expansion of the liquid and the solid respectively.  The thermal expansion coefficient also suffers a discontinuity at Tm.

Fig.1:Schematic diagram highlighting possible changes in the specific volume (Vsp)

of a polymer with change in temperature .

We may however, start with a molten polymer material at A and observe volume change as described by the path ABHI and there is no discontinuity notable at Tm. The liquid line AB gets further extended beyond Tm with lowering of temperature and it is seen to suffer a change in slope at a much lower temperature, Tg and finally, turns into a different linear portion (HI) of a much lower constant slope.  Here, actually, the slope-change occurs over a small range of temperature (which may usually range about 5 – 100C), but extrapolation of the two linear parts allows right assessment of Tg by this method.  The zone HI represents the glassy state that ensues as the glass transition temperature is reached or just crossed as we go down in temperature.  Transition to the glassy state is also commonly termed as vitrification.  The region BH represents the existence of a super cooled liquid state or rubbery state of relatively poor dimensional stability, even under the influence of a low stress.

For all polymers, the glassy state is always attained finally on cooling, irrespective of whether the polymer being tested is crystallizable or not.  Even under situations favouring crystal formation, it does not necessarily mean that crystallization occurs rapidly or completely.  There still remains in most cases significant portions of amorphous zones after the primary crystallization process is completed.

The path ABCEFG in fig. 1 represents the case of a partly crystalline, partly amorphous polymer system.  On cooling down to Tm, crystallization begins and the characteristic discontinuity in Vsp becomes apparent even though the sharpness at which Tm is revealed is not as pronounced for polymers as for a low molecular weight compound, and this can be appreciated from the curvature of the portion of the path BCEF.  For such a system, FG represents the glassy zone and BA the melt or liquid zone and BCEF zone is by and large the amorphous rubbery (super cooled liquid) zone.  The point F, where slope between the segments EF and FG changes corresponds to the glass transition point, Tg, and the polymer in such a case remains by and large amorphous.  If partial crystallization would occur on cooling below Tm , the amorphous content decreases and in that case, the change in slope at Tg may be much smaller and harder to detect.

The path ABJK may appear as a variation of the path ABHI and here, AB describes the liquid state, BJ the super cooled liquid or the rubbery state and JK describes the glassy state.  The path ABHI shifts to ABJK under the condition of a higher cooling rate; it is likely that Tg is also displaced to a higher temperature (Tg?) for a faster cooling rate.

Thus, the temperature response of linear polymers may be viewed as divided into three distinctly separate segments:

1. Above Tm :

In this segment, the polymer remains as a melt or liquid whose viscosity would depend on molecular weight and on the temperature of observation.

2. Between Tm and Tg :

This domain may range between near 100% crystalline and near 100% amorphous chain molecular clusters depending on the polymer structural regularity and on experimental conditions.  The amorphous part behaves much like super cooled liquid in this segment.  The overall physical behaviour of the polymer in this intermediate segment is much like a rubber.

3. Below Tg :

The polymer material viewed as a glass is hard and rigid, showing a specified coefficient of thermal expansion.  The glass is closer to a crystalline solid than to a liquid in behavioural pattern in terms of mechanical property parameters.  In respect of molecular order, however, the glass more closely resembles the liquid.  There is little difference between linear and cross linked polymer below Tg .

The location of Tg depends on the rate of cooling.  The location of Tm is not subject to this variability, but the degree of crystallinity depends on the experimental conditions and on the nature of the polymer.  If the rate of cooling is higher than the rate of crystallization, there may not be an observable change at Tm, even for a crystallizable polymer.

The simple device used to follow volume changes upon cooling or heating is called a dilatometer, having a glass bulb or ampoule at the bottom fitted with a narrow bore capillary at the top, as in fig. 2.  A dilatometer may also be used in studying progress of polymerization with time at a given temperature by following volume contraction of liquid monomer system (the polymer being formed having a higher density than the monomer being polymerized).  For studies with a polymer say, polystyrene, the sample is placed in the bulb, which is then filled with an inert liquid, usually mercury and the volume changes with change of temperature (or sometimes at a constant temperature for a phase change, such as at Tm ) are then registered, as in a thermometer.  The expansion / contraction of mercury due to change of temperature is to be duly accounted for during experimentation for a volume change of the polymer sample.  The experiments are required to be accomplished by placing the dilatometer in a thermostated bath.  The sample must be immiscible with the displacement fluid and degreased to eliminate air entrapment.  Specific volume – temperature plot for polystyrene showing a distinct change in slope at 95.60C, indicates glass transition temperature, fig. 3.

Fig.2:A dilatometric arrangement for                 Fig. 3:Temperature dependence of

measurement of volume change of a                  specific volume for polystyrene indicating

the glass transition temperature, Tg.

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Thus, it is a common experience that raising or lowering of temperature, just as application or withdrawal of stress, greatly influences the physical structure and properties of polymers.  With change of temperature a high polymer material passes through two distinct transitions characterized by (i) melting point or first order transition, denoted by Tm and (ii) the glass transition or second order transition, denoted by Tg .

Melting Point or First Order Transition

Melting of a crystalline solid or boiling of a liquid is associated with change of phase and involvement of latent heat.  Many high polymers possess enough molecular symmetry and/or structural regularity that they crystallize sufficiently to produce a solid-liquid phase transition, exhibiting a crystalline melting point.  The melting is quite sharp for some polymers such as the nylons, while in most other cases as for different rubbers and polystyrene, etc., the phase change takes place over a range of temperature.  Phase transitions of this kind, particularly in low molecular weight materials, being associated with sharp discontinuities in some primary physical properties, such as the density or volume, V,  [ V = (?G / ?P)T ] and entropy,  S,  [–S = (?G / ?T)P ] , which are first derivatives of free energy, are commonly termed first order transitions.  Although  we observe  melting,  a true first order  transition or  ideal  melting  in high polymers is frequently absent or missing, in view of the distribution of molecular weight and entanglements of chain molecules giving rise to the complex phenomenon of retarded flow or viscoelasticity.

Glass Transition or Second Order Transition

Glass transition or second order transition is not a phase transition and almost every polymeric or high polymeric material is characterized by a specific glass transition temperature (Tg) or second order transition point (SOTP), appearing well below its (crystalline) melting point, Tm.

At Tg, the thermodynamic property parameters S, V and H merely undergo change of slope when plotted against temperature, without, however, showing sharp discontinuities as observed in the case of first order transitions, such as the idealized plot shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 4: First order transition showing an idealized phase transition (melting or freezing): Trend of change of volume or entropy with rise of temperature, showing discontinuity at the transition point. (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

The properties that suffer discontinuities at the glass transition temperature are:  heat capacity CP,  [ CP = (?H / ?T)P ], coefficient of thermal expansion ? ,

1                                 1          ?

?  =           (?V / ?T)P = . { (?G / ?P)T } P

V                                 V         ?T

and isothermal compressibility  K,

1                                    1

K  = – (?V / ?P)T = – (? 2G / ?P 2)T

V                                    V

which are second derivatives of free energy and it is for this reason that the glass transition temperature, Tg is commonly referred to as the second order transition temperature, fig. 5.  Refractive index (R1) also shows a sharp change at the glass transition point (Tg).

Fig.5: Trends of change in (a) specific volume, (b) coefficient of thermal expansion (?) or isothermal compressibility (K) and (c) refractive index (RI) of polymers with temperature indicating the glass transition  (Courtesy: Tata McGraw- Hill, New Delhi)

The glass transition is not a phase transition and therefore, it involves no latent heat.  Below this temperature normally rubber – like polymers lose flexibility and turn rigid, hard and dimensionally stable and they are then considered to be in a glassy state, while above this temperature, all normally rigid, stiff, hard glassy polymers turn soft and flexible, become subject to cold flow or creep and as such turn into a rubbery state.  The difference between the rubbery and glassy states lies not really in their geometrical structure, but in the state and degree of molecular motion.

Below the glass transition temperature, Tg, the chain segments or groups, as parts of the chain molecular backbone, can undergo limited degrees of vibration; they do not possess the energy required to rotate about bonds and change positions with respect to segments of the neighbouring chains.At or slightly above Tg, rotation sets in, particularly of side groups or branch units, and it is conceivable that only short range molecular segments rather than the entire high polymer molecule would rotate at this point.  The much higher coefficient of thermal expansion just beyond Tg is indicative of much greater degree of freedom of rotation.

At the respective glass transition or second order transition temperatures, different polymers may be viewed to be in an isoviscous state, and in reality, Tg is a common reference point for polymers of diverse nature, below which all of them behave as stiff rigid plastics (glassy polymer) and above which they appear leathery and rubbery in nature.  As we understand, a useful rubber is a polymer having its Tg well below room temperature, while a useful plastic is one whose Tg is well above the room temperature. Table 4.1 lists the Tm and Tg values of some common polymers.

Table 1:          Tm and Tg Values of Several Polymers

Polymer

Repeat Unit

Tm, 0C

Tg, 0C

Polyethylene

– CH2 – CH2 –

137

-115,-60

Polyoxymethylene

– CH2 – O –

181

-85,-50

Polypropylene (isotactic)

– CH2 – CH (CH3) –

176

- 20

Polyisobutylene

– CH2 – C (CH3)2 –

44

- 73

Polybutadine (1, 4 cis)

– CH2 – CH = CH – CH2 –

2

- 108

Polyisoprene (1, 4 cis), (NR)

– CH2 – C(CH3) = CH – CH2 –

14

- 73

Poly (dimethyl siloxane)

– OSi (CH3)2 –

- 85

- 123

Poly (vinyl acetate)

– CH2 – CH (OCOCH3) –

—

28

Poly (vinyl chloride)

– CH2 – CH Cl –

212

81

Polystyrene

– CH2 – CH (C6H5) –

240

95

Poly (methyl methacrylate)

– CH2 – C(CH3)( COOCH3) –

200

105

Poly tetrafluoroethylene

– CF2 – CF2 –

327

126

Poly caprolactam (Nylon 6)

– (CH2)5 CONH –

215

50

Poly(hexamethylene adipamide)

(Nylon 66)

–HN(CH2)6-NHCO–(CH2)4CO –

264

53

Poly (ethylene terephthalate)

– O(CH2)2 – OCO – (C6H4) CO –

254

69

Poly (ethylene adipate)

– O(CH2)2 – OCO – (CH2)4 CO –

50

-70

Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, external tension or pressure, plasticizer incorporation, copolymerization, filler or fibre reinforcement, and cross linking are some of the more important factors that influence the glass transition temperature, melting point or heat – distortion temperature of a matrix polymer.  The comparative lowering of Tm and Tg for modification of polymer by external plasticization (plasticizer incorporation) and by internal plasticization (comonomer incorporation) is shown in fig. 6. Generally, a comonomer incorporation i.e. copolymerization is more effective than external plasticization in lowering the melting point, while the latter process (external plasticizer incorporation) is more effective than the former (copolymerization) in lowering the glass transition temperature.  Cross-linking causes significant uprise in Tg, as cross-links hinder rotation of chain elements, thus necessitating a higher temperature for inception of rotation of segments between cross-links.  Likewise, higher molecular weight, leading to complex, long range chain entanglements, restricts scope for segmental rotation and thereby causes a rise in the Tg value with a notable levelling off effect for molecular weight > 105.

Fig. 6: Schematic plots showing relative lowering of Tm and Tg of a polymer by separately incorporating (a) an external plasticizer.and (b) a comonomer by copolymerization.  (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Brittle Point

A polymer is also characterized by a temperature called the brittle point1 or brittle temperature (Tbr) which is close to or somewhat higher than its glass transition temperature (Tg ) for most high polymers.  As the temperature of the polymer in its rubbery state is lowered, the flexible nature and rubbery properties are gradually lost and the polymer stiffens and hardens; at an intermediate stage, a temperature called the brittle point is attained at or below which the polymer specimen turns brittle and breaks or fractures on sudden application of load.

For comparison of brittle points of different polymers, it is necessary to do the testing under specified conditions, including specified sample size and thickness, degree and rate of cooling, etc. as the test is empirical in nature.  The brittle point corresponds to a temperature at which the time interval of load application just matches or equals that needed by the test specimen to undergo the necessary deformation.  At a lower temperature, the specimen is unable to deform as rapidly, and hence it fails to withstand the load and thus breaks; above the brittle temperature, the time of load application is more than adequate for the specimen to absorb the applied energy and deform to escape fracturing or breakage.  Lower molecular weight limits the scope for long-range molecular interactions and chain entanglements and hence leads to a higher brittle temperature. Changes in Tg and Tbr with polymer molecular weight, as schematically illustrated in fig. 7, clearly shows that the trends of change for the two parameters are just the opposite.  The difference between the two is much narrower in the higher molecular weight range, but it gets progressively wider as the molecular weight decreases.

Fig. 7: Typical plots showing dependence of brittle temperature (Tbr) and glass transition temperature (Tg) on polymer molecular wieght.

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Development of Crystallinity in Polymers

Polymer morphological studies primarily relate to molecular patterns and physical state of the crystalline regions of crystallizable polymers. Amorphous, semi-crystalline and prominently crystalline polymers are known.  It is difficult and may be practically impossible to attain 100% crystallinity in bulk polymers.  It is also difficult according to different microscopic evidences, to obtain solid amorphous polymers completely devoid of any molecular or segmental order, oriented structures or crystallinity.  A whole spectrum of structures, spanning near total disorder, different kinds and degrees of order and near total order, may describe the physical state of a given polymeric system, depending on test environment, nature of polymer and its synthesis route, microstructure and stereo – sequence of repeat units, and thermomechanical history of the test specimen.  Further, the collected data for degree of crystallinity may also vary depending on the test method employed.  The degree of crystallinity data shown in Table 2 must therefore be taken as approximate.

Polymers showing degrees of crystallinity > 50% are commonly recognized to be crystalline.  The cellulosics (cellulose acetate) and also regenerated cellulose (viscose) used as fibres have crystallinity degree lower than that of native cellulose, the base fibre.  The predominantly linear chain molecules of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) show a degree of crystallinity that is much higher than any other polymer known (even substantially higher than that for the low-density polyethylene (LDPE).  For HDPE, the attainable crystallinity degree is close to the upper limit (100%).  Atactic polymers in general (including those of methyl methacrylate and styrene bearing bulky side groups), having irregular configurations fail to meaningfully crystallize under any circumstances.

Table 2: Approximate Degree of Crystallinity (%) for Different Polymers.

Polymer

Crystallinity (%)

Polyethylene (LDPE)

60 – 80

Polyethylene (HDPE)

80 – 98

Polypropylene (Fibre)

55 – 60

Nylon  6 (Fibre)

55 – 60

Terylene (Polyester fibre)

55 – 60

Cellulose (Cotton fibre)

65 – 70

Regenerated cellulose (Viscose rayon fibre)

35 – 40

Gutta  Percha

50 – 60

Natural rubber (Crystallized)

20 – 30

Figure 8 provides a comprehensive idea about crystallization rate (volume change with time) at different selected temperatures.  For high density polyethylene (HDPE), as the temperature is lowered, the volume changes proportional to the rates of crystallization rapidly increase and well below the actual melting point (1270C), the volume change soon becomes so rapid that measurements and observation become uncertain and difficult, if not practically impossible.  The obvious consequence of the very high rate of crystallization in polyethylene is that it is virtually impossible to obtain and isolate the polymer in the amorphous state at room temperature i.e., under ambient conditions.  Sudden chilling or quenching of the melt to below room temperature results in a material which is still largely crystalline, though expectedly with the likelihood of a somewhat lower degree of crystallinity than otherwise developed on normal melt – cooling.  The reason for this state of affairs is that the time required for crystallization is far shorter than the time taken for cooling the test polymer specimen.

Fig. 8: Plot of relative volume with time (min) showing densification of polylethylene on development of crystallinity at different specified temperatures.

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

For practical reasons, therefore, the process of polymer crystallization is very conveniently studied and measured with confidence using a polymer that is by and large amorphous; natural rubber is one such polymer.  The merit of using rubber as a model material for study of polymer crystallization is that the crystallization process is slow to allow due measurements with easy manipulations and it takes place in a convenient range of temperature.

It is worthy of mention that all rubbers (particularly those which are copolymers) are not crystallizable.  Only those built up of chains characterized by chemically identical and regular repeat units, such as natural rubber, 1, 4 cispolyisoprene and certain grades of polychloroprene are capable of crystallization.

Crystallilzation of Rubber on Cooling

If unvulcanized natural rubber (NR) is held at a fixed low temperature, say 00C, it slowly gets somewhat stiffened and hard, and loses flexibility and softness proportionately.  However, the material still retains some degree of flexibility and toughness.  The observed physical change is also associated with some enhancement in density or lowering in volume; the associated changes are consequences of slow development of crystallinity in the material.

Crystallization in an ordinary low molecular weight liquid on cooling to or below the freezing point takes place very rapidly, consequent to ready and fast molecular rearrangement from a disordered state to a very regular state of packing.  A polymer melt system is, however, much more complicated due to chain entanglements, restricting free mobility of the chain segments, and consequently, hindering and delaying the desired rearrangement process on cooling.  For rubber – like polymers, the time scale of crystallization is commonly much longer than for liquids of low molecular weight materials.

Fig. 9: Densification on crystallization of natural rubber,

plot of relative volume vs. time (hour) at different temperatures.

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Trends of change in relative volume of natural rubber (NR) with time due to crystallization at different low temperature are shown in fig. 9.  The attainable maximum crystallinity and the time span required for this to happen are very much dependent on the temperature of observation6.  In each case, the volume contraction rate is relatively slow initially; the volume contraction (or crystallization) rate shows an increasing trend with time, passes through a higher steady zone at an intermediate time period and then finally drops down, decays or levels off giving a maximum attainable development of crystallinity degree at a given temperature.  Lowering of temperature causes enhancement in the steady rate of crystallization of NR till about –250C, where the steady rate vs. temperature plot, fig. 10 passes through a maximum.  Further reduction in the temperature of crystallization causes a falling trend in the steady rates of crystallization as in fig.10.   The crystallization is (nearly) completed in about five hours at –250C.  In natural rubber, the degree / extent of crystallinity under the most favourable situation does not exceed 30%.

Fig. 10: Plot indicating trend of change in steady rate of crystallization with change in temperature for natural rubber (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Mechanism of Crystallization

As the polymer melt is kept at a temperature close to or slightly above its melting range, the initial slowness in crystallization rate build up (delayed crystallization) is linked with the initial process of nucleation.  Growth of crystallites is contingent upon the development and existence of a certain number of very tiny growth centers or nuclei for the deposition of oriented chain segments.  The growth centers are initially formed on extended cooling or holding of the melt at the specified temperature by coming together of a small number of chain segments in the course of their random motion (micro Brownian motion) under the prevalent situation.  Nucleation is, however, common to all processes that turn an initially homogeneous medium into a heterogeneous system as a consequence of deposition of a separate phase.

As the growth is sustained and continued, the opposing effect of chain entanglements becomes increasingly severe and ultimately critical, thus imparting severe restrictions on the mobility of chain segments and thus making it difficult for them to get to a position for attachment to any one of the crystallites formed.  Beyond this stage, the crystallization rate diminishes sharply and finally, the process dies down.

Lower temperature favours nucleation and lower thermal energy of the chain segments makes it less likely that a nucleus once formed would disappear again, the net result being a gain in the number of nuclei and an increase in the overall rate of crystallization with progressive lowering of temperature. At progressively lower temperatures, however, the overall energy of the polymer system including that available to chain segments tend to get so much lowered that the segments seem to practically lose much of their mobility and hence their deposition on a nucleus formed is progressively hindered much more effectively and there appears a sharp dropping trend in the rates of crystallization.  For natural rubber, the crystallization process gets effectively frozen out below – 500C, fig. 10.

Stress – Induced Crystallization of Rubber

It is a common knowledge and a matter of wide experience that stretching of a strip of vulcanized rubber makes it develop a temporary crystallinity by axial orientation of the chain molecules along the direction of stretching and that the orientational effect disappears instantly on withdrawal of the stretching force.  A strip of raw or unvulcanized rubber also develops crystallinity when subjected to high extensions on application of a stretching force, but it remains more or less in the extended state (in view of the absence of restraining cross links) without notable retraction to its original state on stress release.  However, when heated carefully in the subsequent stage, such as by dipping the test strip into slightly warm water (temperature > 300C) the crystals melt and allow the strip to revert largely to its unstrained state.

The cross links in the vulcanized rubber act as points of reinforcement and are responsible for accumulation of the strong retracting or restoring force that comes into play in breaking the stress – induced orientation (or the crystalline structure) on withdrawal of the applied stress.  In the unvulcanized system, the absence of cross links allows varied degrees of chain uncoiling if not chain slippage on low/moderate extensions and whatever elastic restoring force accumulates is far too insufficient or inadequate to break the crystalline structure and induce dimensional recovery.  Raising the test strip temperature to 300C or slightly above this level, allows melting of the axially oriented crystallites, causing the rubber chain molecules to coil up and the test strip to retract to its initial or near initial (random / unoriented) state.

Fig. 11: Time-dependency of stress-induced crystallization (densification) of unvulcanized rubber held at 00C for different indicated orders of fixed extensions, plot of density change (%) vs. time (min). (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Fig.11shows the time-dependency of crystallization of unvalcanized rubber at a low temperature (here 00C) on application of different fixed extensions revealing trends of % change (increase) of density with time of specified stretch application. Moderate extensions produce effects as observed for lowering of temperature.  For extensions > 100%, however, the crystallization rates are very high, such that only final stages are practically observable.

Melting of Rubber

Beyond this point, further enhancement in temperature gives a linear plot much in tune with the thermal volume expansion of the amorphous rubber. Fig.12:‘Melting curve’ showing increase in              Fig. 13: Melting curve showing a plot

specific volume (cm3/g) vs. temperature (0C)          of relative volume vs. temperature for rise for natural rubber                                                             polyethylene.

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

The melting curve of the highly crystalline polymer polyethylene characteristically shows a sharp volume change and the temperature of the beginning and end of the melting process is usually limited well within a range of 100C or to be more precise, within a span of 50C.  If after melting the rubber, the temperature is lowered again, fig. 12, the linear volume contraction for the amorphous rubber continues to much lower temperatures and the melting curve is not retraced in the reverse direction simply because, measurable recrystallization fails to occur in the time – span of the experiment.  For the highly crystallizable polymer, polyethylene, however, the melting and crystallization / recrystallization processes are by and large reversible in a practical sense and the recrystallization curve is mostly a retrace of the melting curve, fig. 13 from the opposite direction.

For the amorphous polymer, natural rubber, whereas melting occurs over an extended range of temperature, the beginning of melting and the temperature range over which the melting process is accomplished and completed are also largely dependent on the temperature at which the preceding crystallization was done.  Usually, melting begins at a temperature that is 4–60C higher than the temperature at which the preceding crystallization was accomplished, fig. 14.

Fig. 14: Plot indicating dependence of melting range of natural rubber on temperature of crystallization, the diagonal line below the melting range (shaded zone) indicating temperature of crystallization. (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Thus, it is possible to have simultaneous or consecutive melting and recrystallization in a given piece of rubber as it is slowly heated over the melting range (shaded area in fig. 14) after initial crystallization and then held at a specific temperature within that (melting) temperature range.

Polymer Single Crystals

Single crystals of different readily crystallizable polymers can be grown by slow cooling and precipitation from very dilute solutions.  They appear in the form of very thin plates or lamellae, usually diamond shaped with spiral growth pattern and showing step – like formation on the surface.

The single crystals are very small in size and can not be examined by x-ray diffraction.  However, they can be readily and conveniently studied by electron microscopy.  Electron diffraction pattern and electron micrographs reveal certain interesting features about polymer single crystals.  The thickness of the lamellae is very small (100 – 200 Å) compared to the usual polymer chain length.  The diffraction pattern reveals with no uncertainty that the chain axis is directed perpendicular to the plane of the lamellae.  The structural pattern of the single crystal is thus understood well on the basis of the well known folded chain theory.  This theory envisages that a single molecule of the polymer must bend or fold forwards and backwards many numbers of times across the thickness of the lamellae.  Such folded chains are readily stacked in the crystal lattice with ease.  It is widely believed that the single crystal comprises an array of folded chains packed individually and successively between the top and bottom surfaces or planes and on the growing edges of the lamellae as schematically shown in fig. 15.

Fig. 15: Chain folding to yield polymer single crystal (schematic)

This kind of oriented structure or crystal formation involving whole individual polymer molecules discretely without interference or interposition of other molecules is apparently made possible due to large distances that exist to ideally separate the individual molecules in very dilute solutions, fig. 16.  The wide – distance separation ensures practical elimination of chain entanglements.  Hence, when one segment of a polymer molecule gets attached to one of the thin edges of the growing crystal, it faces practically no competition from other far away molecules for occupation of the close by, adjacent lattice site.  There will be little hindrance to the successive occupation of immediately adjacent sites by segments of the same molecule by a chain folding mechanism that would continue till the whole molecule is drawn and arranged and oriented into the folds.

Fig. 16: Separation between polymer chain molecules in (a) very dilute solution and (b) concentrated solution (schematic). (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

Structure of Bulk Polymers

Crystalline polymers obtained on cooling of their melts likewise produce electron micrographs showing the lamellae structure for the crystallites and providing little direct evidence for the presence of major amorphous regions.  An idealized model of the lamellae structure as in fig. 17(a) is probably far from the real state of affairs and it may not be applicable to all types of polymers.  Most polymers other than the polyethylenes (HDPE and LDPE) contain amorphous regions to the extent of 20 – 50% or even more, distributed in the material along with the crystalline domains.  In the structural model for a real system, a provision has to be made to accommodate the amorphous material.  In a fringed – micelle or fringed – crystallite model, fig. 17 (b), the disoriented, amorphous material fractions are shown interspaced between the randomly distributed and positioned crystallites.  This model explains and reveals the morphological features in such materials as rubbers and some cellulosic or other non-crystalline or semi-crystalline polymers with isotropic property pattern.  For different polymers of intermediate orders of crystallinity, random mix of fringed micelle model and regularly stacked lamellae model may represent the overall structural pattern. These structural concepts make allowances for imperfections commonly encountered, such as the interlamellar entanglements, molecular loops of diverse dimensions, irregular fold lengths and interconnecting chains passing through different lamellae.

Fig. 17: Schematic representation of (a) ideal stacking of lamellar crystals (discrete folded chains), (b) fringed – micelle model showing randomly distributed amorphous and crystalline zones, and (c) interlamellar amorphous model. (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

A model consisting of stacks of lamellae interspaced with and connected by amorphous regions may be referred to as the interlamellar amorphous model, fig. 17(c).  This unique model provides the most useful approach to the understanding of the mechanical property profile of bulk crystallized polymers of moderate to high degrees of crystallinity.  The different degrees of ductility and cohesive character are direct consequences of the existence of interlamellar ties.  Somewhat like stacks of bricks without clay or sand – cement interlayers as the mortar, stacks of lamellae (crystals) without the existence of interlamellar tie molecules such as those obtained by slow cooling of a very dilute solution, would prove relatively fragile and brittle.  The tie molecules reduce brittleness and infuse ductility and stability.

Spherulites

The most distinctive, prominent and common feature of bulk crystallized (melt cooled) polymers is the development of spherulites, i.e. spherical crystallites. A spherulite is characteri-zed by a symmetrical structure build – up arising as a consequence of the cooperative growth of oriented chain segments called crystallites radially outward from a core or nucleus in three dimensions, fig. 18.  Bulk crystallized polymers are, in fact, not merely a series of stacked lamellae separated and interconnected by amorphous regions; the lamellae units are intricately organized in a radial fashion within the spherulites.  The crystallization process through which the spherulites are formed follows sequential steps beginning with nucleation.  The nucleation process may be aided by intentional addition of a foreign substance, called the nucleating agent.  The nucleating agents by their presence reduce the size of the spherulites by increasing the number of nuclei.  Growth of large spherulites contributes to enhanced brittleness.

Fig. 18: State of spherulite growth for polypropylene [(a) and (b)] and (c) schematic structure of a spherulite (radial growth and branching of the lamellae with an enlarged portion showing chain folding perpendicular to the spherulitic radius). (Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

It is generally observable that most polymers continue to slowly densify long after spherulite growth is complete.  The post – primary crystallization densification occurs both in the interspherulitic regions and intraspherulitic regions.  The densification due to secondary crystallization slowly taking place after the primary process of spherulite growth leads to thickening of the lamellae, as chain segments are gradually pulled in from the amorphous zones.  One more consequence of the secondary crystallization is the trend toward increase in brittleness.  The whole after-effects on mechanical and related properties of the polymer are recognized to be complex and they depend largely on many factors including the rate and span of cooling, annealing, cold – drawing or stretch – cooling.

Thermal Analysis

The thermal properties of polymers are conveniently studied by employing such techniques as differential thermal analysis (DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).  The DTA technique usually allows detection of thermal response and effects that

Fig.19: A block diagram for a DTA apparatus    Fig. 20: A typical DTA thermogram indicating

thermal changes of a crystallizable polymer (schematic)

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

accompany chemical or physical changes in a material system when it is heated or cooled in a programmed manner through a zone of transition, phase change, chemical transformation or decomposition. It allows location and measurement of glass transition temperature, Tg, the crystallization temperature (Tc), the (crystalline) melting point (Tm), and the temperatures of thermal / oxidative degradation, cross linking and other types of reactions.  Figures 19 and 20 show respectively a block diagram of a DTA equipment and schematic representation of a DTA thermogram.

In practice, the material sample and a thermally inert reference material placed in the respective holders of the DTA cell are heated in a programmed manner.  Any physical or chemical change in the test material at a specific temperature, which is the characteristic feature of the material under study, is usually associated with thermal change leading to a notable difference in temperature (?T), between the test and reference materials held in the furnace temperature.  ?T is recorded as a function of temperature, T.  For no thermal change / transition, in the test sample, ?T remains nearly unchanged (constant).  In DTA, the correlation between ?T and energy changes over a specific transition or transformation (reaction) is uncertain and unknown, thereby making the conversion of the endotherm or exotherm peak areas to energies also uncertain.  However, the DTA technique is applicable to virtually all polymers and many other material systems, revealing in most cases qualitative information about the thermal effects giving clear indications of the transition (endothermic or exothermic) temperatures, fig. 20.  The technique is commonly unsuitable for quantitative measurements of parameters such as heat capacity, heat of fusion or heat of crystallization (for crystallizable polymers) or change in specific heat associated with glass transition for amorphous polymers; quantitative measurements are, however, readily done employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).  In DSC, the test sample and the reference material are heated separately by individually controlled units.  The power or electrical energy inputs to those heaters are controlled and continuously adjusted consequent to any thermal effect in the test sample in such a manner as to maintain the two at identical temperatures.  The differential power or heat energy needed to achieve this state of affairs is recorded against the programmed temperature of the system. For transition involving latent heat such as for fusion, the heat of the transition (fusion) is determined by integrating the (heat) energy input over the time interval covering the transition in question.

Different polymers decompose over different ranges of temperature releasing some volatiles and leaving some residues.  Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is a useful analytical technique for recording weight loss or weight retained of a test sample as a function of temperature, which may then be used for an understanding of the chemical nature of the polymer.  Along with the analysis of the released volatiles and the residue left behind, TGA provides information about thermal stability, and decomposition of the material in an inert atmosphere or in air or oxygen and about moisture content and other volatiles or plasticizer content, ash content and extent of cure for cross linked polymer.  The test sample is placed in a furnace while it remains suspended from one arm of a precision balance.  The TGA thermograms are obtained by recording change in the weight of the test sample as it is held at a fixed temperature or as it is dynamically heated in a programmed manner.  TGA thermograms of some selected polymers are shown in fig.21.

Fig. 21:TGA thermograms of some selected polymers

(Courtesy: Tata McGraw –Hill, New Delhi)

References

Ghosh, P., Polymer Science and Technology – Plastics, Rubbers, Blends and Composites, 2nd ed., Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 2002. Hiemenz, P.C., Polymer Chemistry – The Basic Concepts, Mercel Dekker, New York, 1984. Billmeyer, Jr., F.W., Text Book of Polymer Science, 3rd ed., Wiley – Interscience, New York, 1984. Schmidt, A.X., and C.A. Marlies, Principles of High Polymer – Theory and Practice, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1948. Mandelkern, L., Crystalization of Polymers, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964. Wood, L.A., Advances in Colloid Science, H. Mark and G.S. Whitby Eds., Wiley Interscience, New York 1946, Vol. 2, pp. 57 – 95. Bekkedahl, N. and L.A. Wood, Ind. Eng. Chem. 23 (1941) 381. Geil, P.H., Polymer Single Crystals, Interscience, New York, 1963.

Selected Readings

1. Maiti, S., Analysis and Characterization of Polymers, Anusandhan Pub., Midnapore,

2003.

2. Turi, E.A. Ed., Thermal Characterization of Polymeric Materials, Academic Press,

New York, 1981.

3. Fried, J.R., Polymer Science and Technology, Prentice – Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1995.

4. Treloar, L.G.R., Introduction to Polymer Science, Wykeham Pub., London, 1970.

Careers in industrial science continue to expand with positions opening up in both government and private institutions, especially in the area of research and manufacturing. Graduates can choose from a range of careers in agricultural and biological sciences, the information and technology sector, food and pharmaceutical companies, as well as mining and mineral exploration.

With the unparalleled expansion of scientific knowledge, industrial scientists have the opportunity of working at the leading edge of scientific developments no matter whether they have a leaning towards biology, chemistry or physics.

There will be a career path in industrial science in a variety of fields and this article will look at five fascinating careers to consider.

Industrial Microbiology. If you have a penchant to work in a multidisciplinary scientific environment, then industrial microbiology or biotechnology could interest you. Processes and production problems often take scientists in a variety of directions which means that an industrial microbiologist has to be adaptable across such fields as bioengineering, biochemistry and molecular biology. Career pathways can lead you into fields such as antibiotics and vaccines as well as many other healthcare products and even food and beverages which are produced by microbial activity, for instance, cheeses, yoghurts.

 

Environmental Engineering. Environmental engineering suits graduates who are concerned about the man-made environment and issues relating to water quality, waste disposal, air quality and dealing with contaminated land. Today, research into the prevention of pollution is supported by government and private agencies alike and graduates can expect to work with mechanisms of sustainability in either private companies or government research facilities.

 

Chemical Engineering. Chemical engineering provides a practical link between the theory of science and manufacturing. Industrial scientists with a preference for working in this area will be involved in designing of equipment and development of large chemical manufacturing processes in a variety of industries including photography and photographic equipment, manufacturing chemicals and health care products

 

Academic Research. Most academic careers in the area of industrial science will attract high achieving practitioners looking to develop their research and, naturally, to teach within universities. Professorial appointments are highly regarded and provide satisfying careers for experienced scientists. Although opportunities are limited, with the expansion in industrial scientific jobs as a whole, academic posts are becoming more frequently advertised.

 

Nanotechnology. Within the emerging realm of nanotechnology, jobs are being created across a diverse range of activities. From creating cosmetics and researching the nature of matter, to medical diagnostics and developing better batteries are just a few opportunities that provide blossoming careers for industrial scientists. It is safe to say there is a revolution in manufacturing and in production of new materials. The new ways in which these are made is largely under the direction of a highly qualified industrial scientist. You could find yourself working for a sports equipment company or the army. The choices are almost endless.

The outlook for employment in the area of industrial science is rapidly increasing. Government predictions of job growth show that this growth will continue for at least the next three years unabated. Even in times of slower employment growth, it is apparent that many companies will continue to research and develop new products requiring industrial science expertise.

Regardless of the field of chosen, most people working in Industrial science will gain first hand experience with cutting edge analytical measurement techniques. Measurement technologies such asLaser Diffraction, Dynamic Light Scattering, Spectroscopy, HPLC and Rheology are widely used in Industrial science jobs. With the help of these cutting edge technologies people around the worlds are expanding development of exciting new products that will shape our future world.

 

Especially in science it is utmost to survive if someone is competent to sale the ideas. Then the remittances are recorded in the history, all worlds famous Greek, Sumerian, Egyptian civilizations were contribution to millions of dedicated workers who sacrificed themselves for creating history. An element of salability is frontier science now in contrast to 17th to 19th centuries where time was for developing or fostering fundamentals ideas or concepts. However the 20th century has been a transition or interface of the idea developmental sciences and idea marketing or commercialization. Currently, it has become an urgency of the time to cater the basic needs of an increasing pressure of the population growth globally. Now commercialization of science has become inevitable and is gaining grounds further in all frontal areas like communication, transport, electronic gadgets, auto transports, information technology, education, electronic and print media, medical and medicinal sciences, house and building technology, warfare and so on and so forth. It is different issue that few are misusing scientific information and technology for unethical actions. Though such section of society dare to commercialize scientific ideas but in negative direction. Of course time is there to dare and dreams to socialize sciences.

Hence the scientific dreams open new frontiers of sparkling world to facilitate people’s working, especially, for experimentation, chemical combinations and formulations to unveil their hidden industrial potential, novel ideas and valuable applications thereof. For such appreciable working advancements and industrial applications, certain workable, approachable, accessible, fascinating and interest burning vehicles are required. The vehicles must not be routine science but must also safeguard environmental and user’s safeties with novel concepts to resolve unnoticed, unbreakable and undreamable hypothesis and science involved in them.

The science is a boat or bundles or ideas generating fertile land to carry forward an implementation and transformation into reality which is based on dreams. Kekule, a German organic chemist in 1865, dreamt benzene structure, Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician Pythagoras, dreamt height of fallen tree, Newton, dreamt of falling apple from tree why to come downward only why not to sky, Einstein, dreamt E=mc2 mass energy relationship, though its immediate application in year 1945 by bombarding nuclear bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, massacred thousands and thousands of Japanese. They developed their dreams into respected theories and are being practiced by society as success science stories.

Similarly, the Survismeter was dreamt and its science, concept, idea, were industrially transformed in service of man. The dreamer of the Pythagoras theorem, benzene structure, mass energy relationship, gravitation law (Newton) are no more but dreamer of the survismeter is moving forwards in search of new science. Of course, there are certain difficulties associated with the surviving dreamers or inventors of success science stories as people sometimes have different blank slates for them. For example, many inventors including Galileo, an Italian Scientist, faced tough challenged to put forwards his scientific discoveries.     

It is highly appreciable that many researchers like Nepal Chemical Society, have shown gesture initiative to launch the survismeter in Nepal. Notably sincere and honest researchers Professor Sujeet Kumar Chatterjee and Ajaya Battarai, Tribhuvan University, have moved forwards a vision of survismeter to those who are seriously pursuing science for learning as students or practicing professionals as teachers, researchers and application scientists to create new milestone in Asian countries. Similar other visionaries are awaited to come forward for fostering this Asian invention. Their notice and attention probably may ignite interest further for novel research out of Survismeter Success Science Story-S4. The survismeter is an Asian initiative and a matter pride of Asian countries, with provisions and opportunities to measure Surface Tension, Interfacial Tension, Excess Surface Concentration, Wetting Coefficients, Viscosity and Friccohesity together. Its use encourages savings of 98% experimental resources like experimenter’s time, laboratory infrastructure and occupation, electricity, manpower, water and chemicals, with no experimental hazards and no discharge of polluting effluents along nurturing, ridging, scratching, tinkling, sprinkling and trudging  notions for science among budding and would be scientists.

Its science is R4-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Redsign and nothing goes waste. The survismeter works on theory of Potential Energy and Liquid Distribution and Equilibrium [PELDE] in CPU-controlled pressure unit. Now the S4 is a glaring example before all of us to socialize the science as a green and clean technology [GCT] whose adoption right from beginning could prevent environmental hazards and also accelerate natural ecosystem, especially in Nepal, a country of green lands. Tribhuvan University, Department of Chemistry, Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple Campus, deserves Heroic Public Reception for kindling the survismeter by leaps and bounds from its heartland.The origin of ideas, difficulties faced in, calibration at National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, and Patent by Singapore Govt., successful commercialization, all, have been a unique kind of intensified struggle. Now it has been installed worldwide along developing new applications in a form of substantial assets in hands of researchers within economic boundaries.All these events took one and half decades in notching and framing a new Chapter added to Science and Technology from Asian lands. The fundamental science of the survismeter is credited with a well known notion “Need is mother of invention” but latter on it was noted and tilted “Zeal is mother of invention” due to its elongated struggle and highly discouraging public criticism without analyzing its merit. Since people are conventional but talk nonconventional, this creates fission to their vision. The conventional people are within box thinking and doing in very routine way and dare not for new look. However they pose as their thinking and doing both, are novel. New ideas at all cost must be appreciated and encouraged for validity and industrial validity. Otherwise as none saw falling apple in Brookfield’s, Cannon, Ubbelohde viscometers for viscosity and Wilhelmy Plate Tensiometer for surface tension, individually are being imported from Western and European countries mainly from USA. The detailed information about survismeter science, its applications etc could be sought from references listed under. 

        SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH LAW

The intellectual thinking of man, since time immemorial, has resulted in the development of science and technology. The principles of science and technology have developed in response to differing objects of interest. Science and technology have had a great impact on the way we live. Law has tried to regulate the use and abuse of science and the extent of its application. The major question however is whether we are well equipped with the laws to regulate the use of such technologies.

 

The subject Law, Science and Technology is of great relevance today when Courts have become ”activists” and there has been a tremendous advance in science and technology. The need for sharpening the evidentiary techniques employed in Courts with the help of science and technology cannot be denied. At the same time, one has to be conscious of the limitations. The limitations of both science and the law and the need for both to join hands to strengthen the court-systems by legally admissible scientific evidence must be considered.

 

 

MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

 

 

v SCIENCE

 

The word “Science” comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning “knowledge” or “knowing”. According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is “knowledge attained through study or practice,” or “knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, esp. as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world.”

 

In other words, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural phenomena. The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge that people have gained using that system. Less formally, the word science often describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from it. Perhaps the most general description is that the purpose of science is to produce useful models of reality. Most scientific investigations use some form of the scientific method. Science as defined above is sometimes called pure science to differentiate it from applied science, which is the application of research to human needs. Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines:

-Natural sciences, the study of the natural world, and

-Social sciences, the systematic study of human behavior and society.

 

 

v TECHNOLOGY

 

The word “technology” comes from the Greek word technologia, which means the systematic treatment of an art, form or skill or a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods or knowledge. In other words, the term technology refers to the application of science, especially to commercial or industrial objects.

 

 

v LAW

 

A rule of conduct established and enforced by the authority, legislation, or custom of a given community, State, or nation. In essence, law is the tangible and intangible context that links individuals to the community. In addition, it defines responsibilities of individuals to society as much as it defines and protects individual rights. In short, it is a pillar of good governance.

 

INTER-RELATIONSHIP OF SCIENCE AND LAW

 

Today’’s high technology society forces the two professions (law and science) to interact in a wide array of cases. Legal disputes involving patents, product liability, environmental torts, regulatory proceedings and criminal cases are some fields of such interaction. Further, law and science encounter each other in the laboratory through a number of actions governing intellectual property, research misconduct, etc. The fact-finding agendas of the two disciplines have frequently begun to overlap, if not merge. Because there is a general lack of understanding of each culture, these interactions often lead to a cognitive friction that is both disturbing and costly to the society. Scientists are distrustful of the lawyers and legal proceedings and prefer not to venture into the courtroom. The scientific community that believes that its methods and procedures are above legal scrutiny and questioning often frustrates lawyers. Lawyers and scientists seldom speak the same language. Each should develop a better understanding of the principles and methods of the other’’s profession. Bridging the gap between the two cultures is a challenge that this conference seeks to address.

Science and technology seek knowledge through an open-ended search for expanded understanding, whose truths are subject to revision. Law, too, conducts an open-ended search for expanded understanding; however, it demands definite findings of fact at given points in time. The meeting of these two disciplines in the courtroom magnifies the differences between the two cultures. Even the search of truth does not serve the same aims and may not be subject to the same constraints and requirements.

 

The Courts today deal with complex cases relating to highly sophisticated crimes where criminals take care to erase all evidence of their involvement. In such cases, modernized, scientific and highly sophisticated methods are required to trace the involvement of criminals. A report published in the New York Times (August 7, 2008) stated that with a new analytical technique, a fingerprint can reveal much more than the identity of a person. It can also identify what the person has been touching: drugs, explosives or poisons, for example. Such a laboratory technique can have a wider application in crime investigation. The chemical signature could also help crime investigators trace out one fingerprint out of the smudges of many overlapping prints if the person had been exposed to a specific chemical.

 

Then there are serious cases of medical negligence and related torts where rival parties seek to rely on expert evidence. Even in the field of environmental pollution involving toxic substances, there is serious difficulty in finding out the levels of danger, the extent of actual and latent damage to humans and environment, and there are uncertainties in accepting the technology installed by the polluter to conform to environmental standards. In some civil cases where handwriting, forgery, or paternity issues are involved there is extensive use of scientific techniques. The Courts are thus dependent and, in fact, compelled to analyse evidence of experts examined on each side. There is again the difficulty of evaluating the conflicting expert evidence adduced by the contesting parties in an adversarial judicial process. However, none can deny that expert witnesses retained by parties often are partisan. In such cases, the technique of “Hot Tubbing” must be embraced. The Australians discovered the technique of “Hot Tubbing” to improve expert evidence. In this procedure, also called concurrent evidence, parties still choose experts, but they testify together at trial-discussing the case, asking each other questions, responding to inquiries from the judge and the lawyers, finding common ground and sharpening the open issues. According to UCLA law professor Jennifer Mnookin, “‘Hot Tubbing is much more interesting than neutral experts.”

 

DEVELOPMENTS TILL DATE AND THE RECENT TREND

 

 

In this era of genomics, of crime prevention and of conviction the following questions need special attention:

 

 

Is the legal profession ready for this new information?

 

How would these techniques benefit the justice delivery system?

 

Is our society ready for the implications that genomics brings to every facet of our lives?

 

Is our society struggling with the ethical and social issues thrown up by the new biology such as human cloning, use of animals in biomedical research, etc.?

 

With the rapid progress in science, are laws in their present form really able to deliver justice efficiently or is some rethinking in the form of new laws or amendments to existing laws required?

 

 

Before any major changes can be effected, all stakeholders have to sit together and look for the answers to these unsolved problems. This contact which was missing in India became a reality when the first ever conference of this kind was held. This conference, who’’s Chairman was the erstwhile President of India; Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam formed the basis of the ”Hyderabad Declaration on Impact of New Biology on Justice Delivery System”. These deliberations of law were co-organised by the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and NALSAR University of law. The deliberations brought together the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, representatives from various Commissions like the Law Commission and the Human Rights Commission, Directors of the National Law Schools and other legal luminaries, lawyers, scientists, doctors, bio-industrialists, NGO’’s, police investigators, journalists and a couple of participants from abroad. Inter alia the meeting emphasized the following:

 

To establish a Human Genetics Commission to provide technical and strategic advice about the current and emerging issues in Human Genetics, and a consultative mechanism for development oh National Genetics Policy and guidelines in that area;

 

To establish an Ethics Committee to assess ethical, legal and social issues raised by research on human genome and use of DNA databases;

 

To statutorily define status of human embryo so that research on embryonic cells is done under statutory control and regulations;

 

To devise a mechanism to establish links with the International Community of Dispute for resolution of new issues in new biology;

 

To suitably amend the Patents law to strike a fair balance between public and private interests in case of patents that assert property rights over genetic material.

 

IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON INVESTIGATION

 

Science is a compelling and commanding weapon in the armoury of administration of justice. Forensic Science is a science pertaining to law. In particular, it works as the branch, which is used mainly in criminal investigation and findings of which can lead to arrests and convictions. Undoubtedly, scientific investigations generate evidence in favour of the victims and against the accused. Forensic Science helps in providing the identity of the culprit or the accused who willingly or unwillingly, in most of the cases, leaves the mark of his crime, thereby making the job of the investigator much easier in proving the culpability with the aid of Forensic Science.

 

Forensic Science provides scientific study for investigation of crime. The growth, development and use of Forensic Science in detection of crime in developed countries are tremendous and increasing with new techniques. The area of Forensic Science in India has not been properly looked into, as it ought to have been and more so when the average acquittal rate is alarmingly high. Therefore, in our country, also, the necessity and importance of Forensic Science hardly needs any emphasis. The lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance of specialists in general, by non-specialists, in all fields, cannot be denied. The field of Forensic Science is no exception. Many a time, neither the judge, nor the lawyer nor even the police appreciate fully, the advances or the extensive, promising potentialities of the science and the fusion of new technologies, methodologies, modalities and research. Multitask and multi-professional nature of Forensic Science needs an inter-professional approach, which is, many a time, lacking. Therefore, sincere and serious efforts are required to be made to eliminate personal and professional bias of the involved personnel and professionals.

 

Forensic Science in criminal investigation and trial is principally concerned with materials and circuitously through materials, with men, places and time. It embraces all branches of science and applies them to the purposes of law. The scientific examination by Forensic Scientists adjoins a missing link or strengthens a weak chain of investigation.

 

Systematic uses of Forensic Science provide significant assistance in answering the following questions:

 

(i) How was the crime committed?

(ii) When was the crime committed?

(iii) Who committed the crime?

 

Law-enforcement agencies refer to Forensic Experts to help solve mysterious situations concerning human life and thereby, provide help and useful contribution to the criminal courts in the journey for search of truth in criminal trials. Forensic Science deals with various aspects, including routine post-mortem to sophisticated tracking piece like DNA analysis.

 

Unfortunately, techniques and methodology with necessary materials used extensively in Western countries has not successfully clicked in India because of a variety of reasons, the major one being the investment of huge finance. This science is also, at times, useful in finding out the truth in some of the civil cases.

 

The prosecution mainly calls Forensic Scientists as expert witnesses. The practice of the defense producing Forensic Scientists or the courts consulting on their own listed experts is not very much in vogue. In fact, there is an acute need to bridge the communication gap that presently exists between lawyers, judges and Forensic Scientists. An independent analysis and evaluation of the scientist’’s data and any subsequent testimony that may follow again depends on the judges” familiarity and understanding of the principles of Forensic Science.

 

In Western countries DNA test and profile is widely employed. In a country like ours, the need of such a test and profile may, hardly, be emphasized. In many developed countries, DNA test, genetic testing techniques and “racmization” — testing based on systematic examination of teeth and bite-marks has proved to be very useful. “Racmization” technique is currently used in Japan and Germany. It has potential to replace the traditional method that took into account the eruption and/or fusion and falling sequence of teeth. A fusion of such knowledge of Forensic Science and newly developed techniques will, undoubtedly, not only provide proper perspective and dimensions, but will also lead to detection of crime, and be a great help in search of the truth. It will be useful in the prevention and control of crimes and will provide required assistance to the parties to civil disputes, as well.

IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON THE JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM

 

Common view is that the Indian justice administration system is slow. However, the major question is, is it the primary problem with Indian justice delivery system? The key issue is, is it is delivering justice at all in majority of cases? If a machine is faulty and makes bad products, then if one speeds up the machine, it will deliver more of those bad products. Therefore, if we speed up a malfunctioning Justice Administration System, it will simply toss up more of injustice. Is that the goal of any justice delivery system?

 

In the words of Justice Shayamal Kumar Sen, “The investigation process needs to be hastened; otherwise the criminal justice system will suffer”.

 

Justice Sen urged that research and development should be initiated in a way that would ensure that crime at the grassroots level is detected immediately and an effective management system should be introduced.

 

According to M P Singh, vice-chancellor, West Bengal National University Of Juridical Science, new techniques should be introduced as it will help in crime detection and the infrastructure should be developed in a way that will not only give momentum to effective criminal delivery system but will also hasten the entire long drawn process of investigation.

 

 

IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON COURT AND COURT PROCESSES

 

Science is not new to the Indian courts. Towards the end of 1989, one low-end computer was installed in Supreme Court of India for caveat matching. Immediately thereafter, in 1990, Justice GC Bharuka, as a sitting Judge at the Patna High Court initiated the process of court computerization. On his transfer to Karnataka in 1994, he undertook to introduce ICT (Information and Communucation Tecnologies) in the entire judiciary of the state of Karnataka.

Presently all the courts upto the taluka level are computerized. All the judicial officers and court staff are trained. There is complete automation from filing of a case to grant of a certified copy. Digital production of under-trial prisoners by video-conferencing is made possible. Through website, causelists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, district courts and various Tribunals is made available online, a day before.

 

 

SCIENCE AND GREY AREAS OF LAWS

 

v SPACE LAWS

 

Simply put, Space law is a part of International jurisprudence related to outer space. It follows customary practice in defining outer space, the region 100 km beyond the earth’’s surface.

 

With the advancement of science and technology, things that were once considered impossible are now increasingly becoming possible and even fashionable. No one, some six decades back would have thought of going to space, let alone marrying in space. Thanks to science, this has now become a reality. For $2.3 million, a person can cement bonds from 62 miles straight up. Japanese company First Advantage, along with former X-Prize contender Rocketplane Global, is teaming up to offer weddings in space.

 

According to a LiveScience article, Rocketplane Global “is developing the XP Spaceplane for private suborbital spaceflights. The four-seat spaceship is slated to be about the size of a fighter jet and designed to carry two jet engines and a rocket engine to reach space.”

 

Besides shelling out $2.3 million, a person has to undergo four day’’s worth of training for the one-hour ceremony. Training includes safety procedures, weightless maneuvering, and to explain to one’’s family why they were not invited.

 

Not only this, Sapporo Breweries, the Japanese beer maker established in 1876, is brewing beer from barley descended from seeds that spent five months on the International Space Station ( ISS).

 

According to a CNN article, “The project is part of biological studies of the adaptability of plants to environmental changes and the impact from stresses such as space travel.”

If successful, the study will bring the world one-step closer to growing crops in space. In addition, fortunately, right now, scientists cannot tell the difference between the ISS grains and homegrown barley.

 

However, in order for commercial space activities to grow, there must be an attractive legal environment. Unfortunately existing space law consists mostly of some inter-governmental treaties that are quite inappropriate for business.

 

Space is just another place where humans are going to live. In addition, because space is almost limitless humans are going to live there in vast numbers in the future. In other words, it will become a completely new habitat. Today most activities in space are government ones because getting to and from space is so expensive. Once travel from orbit is cheap enough, as on earth, individuals, private companies and organizations will carry on most activities in space. At that time space activities will involve almost every industry, be it catering and drinks, fashion and entertainment, or law.

 

An attractive legal environment is needed to enable operating companies to plan passenger services and place orders for the vehicles that they require, and for manufacturers to finalize vehicle design details and raise the investment that they need in order to put the vehicles into production.

 

Sovereignty over outer space is another debatable issue that needs to be resolved.

 

 

 

CYBER LAWS AND JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES

 

 

With the advent of internet, a whole new category of crime that includes fraud, theft of services and data, copyright infringement, destruction of data through computer sabotage (viruses) and acts causing inconvenience to agencies comprising sensitive, secret or confidential functions has come up. Chances of use of the web as a forum for publication of defamatory content has increased multifold and there is a need for a clear, coherent expression of the law in this area.

 

Hacking time theft (stealing someone else’’s internet time) pornography, sending threatening e-mail, defamatory e-mail, hacking e-mail, e-mail bombs, etc. are the main areas of cyber crime.

 

The people who commit cyber crimes are mostly those who have white-collar jobs, unlike usual criminals. They can even be high school kids. The territory that a cyber crime can stretch across is immense. It can go over continents

 

The principles that govern the exercise of criminal jurisdiction are based on the assumption that “crime” is a territorial phenomenon. Cyber crime makes these principles problematic in varying ways and in varying degrees. Unlike real-world crime, it is not physically grounded; it increasingly tends not to occur in a single sovereign territory.

 

 

 

The perpetrator of a cyber crime may physically be in Country A, while his victim is in Country B, or his victims are in Countries B, C, and D and so on. The perpetrator may further complicate matters by routing his attack on the victim in Country B through computers in Countries F and G. The result of these and other cyber crime scenarios is that the cyber crime is not committed “in” the territory of a single sovereign state; instead, “pieces” of the cyber crime occur in territory claimed by several different sovereigns.

 

Cyber crime is a primary example of cross-border crime, and so, it raises the issue of jurisdiction. This is a tricky issue. Acts on the Internet that are legal in the state where they are initiated may be illegal in other states, even though the act is not particularly targeted at that state. Jurisdiction conflicts abound, both negative (no state claims jurisdiction) and positive (several states claim jurisdiction at the same time). Above all, it is unclear just what constitutes jurisdiction: is it the place of the act, the country of residence of the perpetrator, the location of the effect, or the nationality of the owner of the computer that is under attack? Or all of these at once? It turns out that countries think quite differently on this issue. The cyber crime statutes of numerous countries show varying and diverging jurisdiction clauses. Since internet allows transactions between persons of various jurisdictions, an international agreement (to be crystallized into a convention, later) is required for any regulation. However, in arriving at a uniform law, varying standards adopted by jurisdictions across the world and the point of balance adopted by them have to be kept in mind.

 

 

Jurisdiction is a highly debatable issue as to the maintainability of any suit that has been filed. Today with the growing arms of cyberspace the territorial boundaries seems to vanish thus the concept of territorial jurisdiction as envisaged under S.16 of C.P.C. and S.2.of the I.P.C. will have to give way to alternative method of dispute resolution.

 

In addressing the issues of what problems were posed by cyber-crime, Mr. Corell noted that the scope of international cooperation is limited by international agreements and by the national law of the State from which information has been requested. There are also differing priorities between developed and developing countries. These differences complicate international cooperation and expand the gap between the two groups.

 

There is no authoritative, comprehensive elaboration of the principle of universal jurisdiction concerning cyber-crime, he said. There are different views concerning the offences that constitute crimes under international law that are subject to universal jurisdiction. There are also different opinions with respect to the significance of the obligation to prosecute or extradite, as contained in various treaties, as evidence of universal jurisdiction. Whether States are not only permitted, but also required, to exercise jurisdiction with respect to crimes under international law, is also subject to different opinions.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

The magnetism of science has always captivated members of the legal profession. People look up to science to rescue them from the experience of uncertainty and the discomfort of difficult legal decisions, and are constantly disappointed.

The notion of what constitutes science and what it would take to make law more scientific varies across time. What does not vary is our constant return to the well. We are constantly seduced into believing that some new science will provide an answer to laws dilemmas, and we are constantly disappointed.

 

In the words of Senior Advocate K.T.S. Tulsi — “There is no doubt that [science] is going to overtake the law enforcement agencies by storm. No one will be able to avoid it. It is like standing on the shore and asking the waves of the sea not to come. What is required is a proper debate about the real value of [science] and whether it fits into the overall picture and what use could be made of it by the investigators.”

 

REFERENCES

 

 

v BOOKS AND ARTICLES

 

A Convergence of Science and Law. A Summary Report of the First Meeting of the Science, Technology and Law Panel: National Research Council. Science and law blog: August 8, 2008. Fingerprints” Chemical “Footprints”? Science and law blog: August 11, 2008. “Hot Tubbing”: Old wine in New Bottles for Expert Witnesses. The New York Times: August 7, 2008, Kenneth Chang. Law, science and technology collaboration: Justice M. Jugannadha Rao-Chairman Law Commission of India. Kolkata Newsline, Thursday, February 01, 2007. A profile of forensic science in juristic journey: Justice Jitendra N. Bhatt. Do space laws need to be modified? S Bhatt Space weddings. I do. I really do. Carol Pinchefsky, 7 July 2008. Tara Blake Garfinkel, Jurisdiction Over Communication Torts: Can You Be Pulled into Another Country’s Court System for Making a Defamatory Statement Over the Internet? A Comparison of English and US Law, 9 Transnat’l Law 489, 492 Bryan P. Werley, Aussie Rules: Universal Jurisdiction over Internet Defamation, 18 Temp. Int’l & Comp. L.J. 199, 219 Para 1.16 of the British Law Commission Report on Defamation and the Internet, cited from (visited on 7th August, 2004 1996 US Dist LEXIS 8435 (SDNY 19 June, 1996), cited from R. Matthan: The Law Relating to Computers & the Internet, p. 2 (New Delhi: Butterworths, 2000). In this case, the defendant was an Italian, who had, using an Italian server, set up a website, under the name “Playmen”. The court had earlier issued a permanent injunction against the defendant from using that name in any magazine sold, published or distributed in USA. The court accepted that it could not order the website to be shut down as that would amount to asserting that every court in the world had jurisdiction over all information providers on the internet In info age, time for cyber savvy cops. Uma Karve. October 5, 2002. Learning the law, Indian Express. Karina Sudarsan Beware! Cyber Criminals are on the prowl, Navhind Times,March 17, 2002; by Shaikh Jamaluddin. 10 Myths of Electronic Security, Banking Frontiers September, 2002; Rohas Nagpal, Asian School of Cyber Laws. I”ll be watching you! Times of India, December 19, 2002; Zahra Khan, Times News Network. Approaches to Cybercrime Jurisdiction; Susan W. Brenner, University of Dayton – School of Law, Bert-Jaap Koops Tilburg University – Faculty of Law (TILT). Challenge of borderless ”Cyber Crime” to International Efforts to Combat Transnational Organized Crime Discussed at Symposium, 14 December, 2000. Towards Speedy, Inexpensive, Transparent and Accountable Justice; Justice GC Bharuka, 4th November, 2007.

source : www.thinklegal.co.in (ThinkLegal Resources Pvt Ltd)

           

 

Though many things contribute to a younger, healthier appearance, one of the most important is an amazing molecule called collagen. About 80% of your skin is made from collagen, giving the skin its basic structure. Collagen makes skin stronger, thicker and more supple, which is what makes skin smooth, firm and strong – and young looking. But unfortunately as we age the skin loses collagen and your body gradually produces less and less.

Scientists now understand that the gradual loss of collagen with age results in the fine lines, wrinkles, acne scars and other blemishes associated with looking older. This process is further accelerated by exposure to the sun and elements. As collagen gets depleted, skin begins to weaken, getting thinner, less supple and prone to fine lines, wrinkles and other blemishes.

Some skin care products have collagen in them. Unfortunately, collagen is an extremely large molecule – way too big to be readily absorbed though the skin. These high-priced concoctions do not even contain actual collagen – they use partially hydrolyzed proteins and vitamins that supposedly help stimulate collagen production by the body.

Doctors also now inject collagen directly into the skin. This is a painful and costly process that can cost up to $1,200.00 per injection. Of course, since it doesn’t help your body produce new collagen, it is an expensive temporary solution. Now some doctors also inject a toxic substance known as Botulinum Toxin A (derived from the Clostridium Botulinum bacterium) into facial skin to create a temporary paralysis, thus reducing wrinkles. In addition to being expensive and uncomfortable, these injections may actually be dangerous. Side effects from these so-called treatments may include severe facial damage and allergic reactions that can cause immobility in other body muscles, as well as major allergic reactions.

Despite all these costly efforts, as far as we know the cosmetic industry is still looking for an anti-aging breakthrough.

Look no further – microdermabrasion IS the miracle breakthrough you’ve been waiting for. Professional microdermabrasion is a more natural approach. Instead of ineffective creams, costly surgery, dangerous chemicals or painful injections, microdermabrasion removes a layer of dead and damaged skin cells by “abrading” the skin with aluminum oxide crystals. Doctor’s and aestheticians use an expensive medial-grade machine to “sand blast” skin with the crystals.

This process of abrasion not only enhances the surface of the skin, reducing many blemishes, it goes much deeper, stimulating your body to actually produce more collagen and elastin. This makes your skin thicker and stronger naturally -from the inside out. Now your body is making more collagen like it did when you were younger.

In fact, a study by a well known cosmetic surgeon found that a series of six microdermabrasion treatments definitely increased collagen production and thickening of the skin. This is what makes professional microdermabrasion the most effective, and most popular non-surgical procedure for the treatment of aging, wrinkles, fine lines, acne scars, age spots and other blemishes. As the skin gets stronger, thicker and more supple it gets firmer, smoothing out the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, acne scars and other blemishes.

Now, thanks to home microdermabrasion, you don’t need an expensive sand blasting machine – you can do it yourself at a price everyone can afford! Until home microdermabrasion, a series of six professional microdermabrasion treatments could actually cost you several thousand dollars. Now home microdermabrasion lets you safely, effectively do it yourself in the comfort and convenience of your own home.

Diamonds have assumed a range of symbolic meanings throughout history, including the historic notion that diamonds bestowed mysterious powers of protection and healing upon the elite few who possessed them. Widely renowned and commercially prevalent today, diamonds are now commonly associated with wealth, status, and love.

A diamond is the most concentrated form of carbon, the element essential for all forms of life. The diamond is differentiated from other substances comprised of carbon due to its unique crystal structure, which identifies the bond among a repeating arrangement of compounds or elements that produce a solid entity. In fact, the diamond consists of the strongest chemical bond known today, lending to the diamond’s exceptionally resilient properties.

The natural process through which diamonds form adds mystique to their enchanting allure. Diamonds typically form deep within the earth where there exist conditions of extreme heat and pressure, with evidence suggesting that diamonds have formed hundreds of miles below the earth’s surface. Temperatures in excess of one thousand degrees Celsius and pressure of at least fifty kilobars are conditions necessary for diamond formation, with the atmospheric pressure at sea level measuring just one kilobar. In some cases, diamonds form at shallower depths which exhibit abnormally high levels of pressure, though the quality of these diamonds is generally lower than those which form deep within the earth.

Diamond deposits that are large enough for mining are generally located in cratons, which are vast areas of the earth’s crust which have reasonably stable properties and cover a large percentage of most continents. Cratons consist of a substantial crust with roots that extend into the earth’s mantle below. Diamonds are transported to the earth’s surface by magma, or liquid volcanic rock traveling through these roots, which cools and hardens as it reaches the cooler temperature of the earth’s surface. During this hardening process, cone shaped diamond deposits materialize, named kimberlite pipes after Kimberley, South Africa where the first kimberlite pipe was found. While diamonds are occasionally discovered in meteorites and different types of rocks, most diamonds have historically been found in kimberlite pipe deposits.

The value of the diamond extends far beyond the exquisite beauty that makes it popular for use in fine jewelry. The hardest substance known to man, diamonds can also withstand extreme pressure and shock, making them valuable for industrial use in tools for cutting, polishing, drilling and grinding. Flawed diamonds that are not suited for jewelry as well as synthetic diamonds are often designated for such manufacturing applications.

How nutrients are synthesized into food. Life is a three tier system as we have stated before. The foundation tier the soil organisms are built on 17 elements that have been identified to grow healthy organisms, crops and animals. An example is that a 2500 pound steer can be created by eating grass. But the grass must have the critical nutrient elements to do that.

Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are three of the macro minerals (needed in large amounts) but there are 14 other micro minerals that chloroplasts using chlorophyll employ to build the nutrients in plants that put nutrition in food. Without them, food is empty. Here are the inter related actions of a few for example:

– Manganese, Magnesium, Iron form Chlorophyll to power the chloroplasts.

– Chlorine is required in Photosynthesis.

– Copper is needed to form Vitamin A.

– Boron regulates Carbohydrates.

– Molybdenum is used to fix Nitrogen in the soil.

– Cobalt is the center atom of Vitamin B12 created in the stomachs of ruminants.

– Calcium and Magnesium activate Protein Synthesis.

It takes essential micro nutrients in soil to synthesize phytochemicals in leaves and fruit for rich, deep taste and color. Anthocyanin reds, cartinoid and flavenoid yellows and oranges, polyphenol blues, resveratrol purples and chlorophyll greens are the rainbow of colors of nutritional content and the taste in food. All are contingent on the uptake of the 14 essential micronutrient minerals working together to augment the synergy with NPK fertilizers for better taste.

Chloroplasts are the plant pharmaceutical factory. One of the most widely recognized and important characteristics of plants is their ability to conduct photosynthesis, in effect, to make their own food by converting light energy into chemical energy. Their food production becomes our food. This process occurs in almost all plant species and is carried out in specialized organelles known as chloroplasts. All of the green structures in plants, including stems and un-ripened fruit, contain chloroplasts, but the majority of photosynthesis activity in most plants occurs in the leaves. On the average, the chloroplast density on the surface of a leaf is about one-half million chloroplasts per square millimeter.

Chloroplasts are one of several different types of plastids; plant cell organelles that are involved in energy storage and the synthesis of metabolic materials.

The colorless leucoplasts synthesize starch, oils, and proteins. Yellow-to-red colored chromoplasts manufacture carotenoids, green colored chloroplasts contain the pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, which are able to absorb the full spectrum of light energy needed for photosynthesis of phytochemical nutrients to occur and require iron, magnesium and manganese micro nutrients to even form the chlorophyll molecule. Deficiencies in nutrients prevent synthesis of nutrients to keep plants resistant to disease and bacterial infection and prevent synthesis of nutrients in food.

Kissing is one of the most intimate acts of sex (yes, its sex when you exchange bodily fluids and that includes kissing) which is why I call it “facial intercourse,” a phrase I often like to use in my seminars.

What you may not know about kissing is that there is now scientific evidence that long, wet, deep, passionate kissing can stimulate the same type of brain activity as high risk sports activities such as bungee jumping.  The feelings of anticipation and excitement from both activities cause the brain to release feel good endorphins and neurotransmitters (chemicals) like Dopamine, whose targeted actions includes voluntary movement and emotional arousal and Noradrenaline for wakefulness and physical arousal.

Drugs like Speed and Amphetamines that suppress appetite and enhance performance create similar feelings to the natural endorphins your body releases during passionate kissing and sports.  Unlike when you’re rock climbing, speed skiing, or parachuting, when you kiss someone you have incredible chemistry with, your brain sends messages to your body that creates physical changes and sensations resulting in arousal; and if you move from kissing to caressing, oral sex, intercourse, and orgasm, your body will go through five stages of a sexual response cycle.

Masters and Johnson described the sexual response cycle as having four stages in the 1960’s when they studied over 10,000 response cycles: Excitement, Plateau, Orgasm and Resolution. I personally believe there are actually five cycles, especially for women, the first being foreplay.

Cycle #1 – Foreplay

Most people I know like to be prepared for sex whether it’s with a kiss, caress, or hearing about what’s to come (excuse the pun).  Foreplay creates sexual anticipation and releases feel-good endorphins and it gets the blood flowing towards the genitals.

Cycle #2 – Excitement

One of the major physical responses to excitement is known as Vasocongestion, which is when blood flow increases to the genital tissues, breasts, and nipples.  A woman’s breasts swell and her nipples become erect, her vagina becomes lubricated, and her clitoris can grow up to three times its normal size.  His increased blood flow to the genitals enables the penis to harden and stay erect.  Blood pressure rises, heartbeat and breathing quicken, and the body becomes more sensitive to touch.

Cycle #3 – Plateau

Body temperature continues to rise and changes the color of her inner labia to an intense rosy red.  Her uterus pulls upward into the abdomen, broadening the vaginal space allowing the penis to fit.  The head of his penis becomes engorged with blood and swells.  At the urethral opening, some men will secrete pre-ejaculatory fluid which contains semen.

Cycle #4 – Orgasm

Breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate increases as muscle tension is building to a peak.  The vagina contracts at 0.8 second intervals so if you’ve ever wanted to know if a woman has reached an orgasm, just watch her vagina contract involuntarily.  The testicles rise up close to his penis while his prostate gland is filled with fluid.  When his automatic pelvic muscular contractions begin, it’s the point of no return…orgasm and ejaculation.

Cycle #5 – Resolution

This is when the body goes back to its normal pre-arousal state.  Swelling in the genitals and other areas decrease.  Muscles relax and organs and tissues resume their original positions.  Heart beat and breathing slows down and some men feel so relaxed that they just want to go to sleep while women want to cuddle…but that’s another story!

For a woman, to empower her sexually and for a man to become multi-orgasmic, play the better sex game of tantra and experience new sexual heights of pleasures.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2005 which found that echinacea was not effective against the common cold, has indeed affected sales of echinacea – and public perception – in some quarters. In the UK, for example, sales dropped from a high of 6.1 million euros to 4.9 million in 2005. This is unfortunate, as the study has been roundly criticised in a number of areas.

There are 3 basic areas that been called into question within the study:

1. the dosage

2. the type of echinacea product used

3. the relevance of artificially inducing a virus in young and healthy volunteers

The dosage of echinacea used is one of the most critical points. Even assuming the quality of echinacea extract used in the study was the same as that used by good commercial preparations, the study participants were given about one third of the recommended dosage for those suffering a cold.

Sick college students in the study were only given 1.5 ml extracts of echinacea, three times a day. In milligrams, the 1.5ml was approximately equivalent to 300mg of the dried powdered root, or 900 mg of echinacea in total per day. Compare this to the dosage recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 3 grams per day of the dried root. So, the World Health Organization recommends 330% MORE echinacea per day for cold and flu symptoms. As Michael McGuffin, of the American Herbal Products Association, said: “It’s like conducting a study on the effect of a third of an aspirin and wondering why you still got a headache.”

The headache continues for good science. Looking at the type of echinacea extract used in the study, there are further discrepancies when compared with commercial preparations.

The study used extracts that were made in a university lab. If there was a standard method to extracting echinacea so that all of the active ingredients were present in the same quantities, this would not be a problem. However, this is just not the case. MediHerb, who make herbal preparations under the guidelines of pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices, wrote that after testing other commercial echinacea products worldwide, they could not find one that had anywhere near the level of alkylamides that their strongest echinacea product did. Echinacea alkylamides are an important active constituent responsible for immune stimulation.

It is significant that even amongst commercial products – made by companies with a vested interest in getting echinacea extracts right – there is such a variance in quality. Even Consumer Lab, an independent testing organization, noticed quite a variance in different commercial preparations. They were testing for phenols, not alkylamides, though.

But what hope is there that one study lab, inexperienced in making echinacea, was able to produce the quality that many commercial preparations failed to deliver? In any case, unless the study co-ordinators provide a chemical profile of the echinacea they made, any comparisons to commercial products are without scientific foundation.

One of the study authors, David Gangemi, even said this about the dosage and the extract they used: “I think in retrospect if we go back and we look at some of the other products that are out there maybe we’re only one tenth the level we should be.”

The final point that has been raised about the study is just how relevant it is to compare the experience of healthy college students, with a good immune system, to the typical consumer of echinacea supplements. As one herbalist said, it is difficult to generalize their experience: “This could be irrelevant to the real life situation where people with compromised immunity are exposed to a range of constantly evolving viruses and bacteria.”

There are a lot of studies that have found echinacea does in fact help alleviate the symptoms of colds and flus, and help in the recovery process. The American Botanical Council provides summaries of 21 clinical trials on different echinacea preparations, and types of echinacea (there are 3 species) on their website. It’s a shame that these successful trials did not receive the same media coverage that a flawed study did.

References:

1. American Botanical Council

2. MediHerb Clinical Support and the Standard Process website

3. Nutraingredients